Computer systems typically include bulk storage systems, such as magnetic disk drives, optical storage devices, tape drives, or solid state storage drives, among other storage systems. As storage needs have increased in these computer systems, networked storage systems have been introduced which store large amounts of data in a storage environment physically separate from end user computer devices. These networked storage systems typically provide access to bulk data storage over one or more network interfaces to end users or other external systems. In addition to storage of data, remote computing systems include various processing systems that can provide remote computing resources to end users. These networked storage systems and remote computing systems can be included in high-density installations, such as rack-mounted environments.
However, as the densities of networked storage systems and remote computing systems increase, various physical limitations can be reached. These limitations include density limitations based on the underlying storage technology, such as in the example of large arrays of rotating magnetic media storage systems. These limitations can also include computing density limitations based on the various physical space requirements for network interconnect as well as the large space requirements for environmental climate control systems.
In addition to physical space limitations, these bulk storage systems have been traditionally limited in the number of devices that can be included per host, which can be problematic in storage environments where higher capacity, redundancy, and reliability is desired. These shortcomings can be especially pronounced with the increasing data storage and retrieval needs in networked, cloud, and enterprise environments.
In rack-mounted environments, densities of associated computing and storage resources can also be limited by the mechanical restrictions of backplane-centric assemblies. Typically, one or more cooling or ventilation fans are employed in rack-mounted assemblies which are mounted in at the back or rear of the assemblies, often behind any associated backplane. This configuration prevents full use of the modular volume of a rack-mounted assembly, which limits the density of components therein and the efficiency of ventilation fans.
Overview
Systems, methods, apparatuses, and software for data systems are provided herein. In one example, a meshed computing architecture is presented that includes a midplane comprising PCIe interconnect, storage modules configured to couple to a first portion of the PCIe interconnect, controller modules configured to couple to a second portion of the PCIe interconnect, and fabric modules configured to couple to a third portion of the PCIe interconnect. The first portion of the PCIe interconnect communicatively couples each of the storage modules to each of the controller modules and each of the fabric modules, the second portion of the PCIe interconnect communicatively couples each of the controller modules to each of the fabric modules, and third portion of the PCIe interconnect communicatively couples the controller modules to each other.